Natural Dyed Eggs Experiment

We've decorated Easter eggs in a variety of ways over the years, and for something new, I decided to make our own natural dyes this year. The results were not as great as they could have been, but I have figured out the basics for making homemade dyes, and I now know what to do differently next time. Up front, I should have prepared the dyes the day before we wanted to dye eggs since this was a time-consuming process. Since I felt the time crunch, I didn't let the dyes steep nearly as long as I could have (and probably should have) in order to get deeper color saturation. Also, I would have liked to try to make more variety of colors, but for my first attempt, 3 seemed like plenty!

{Left to right: spinach, beet root, carrot, plain white egg}

The first color that I tried was red/pink. I used my beet root powder that I've been using to make lip gloss, blush, and eye shadow. (And as an aside for anybody who is wondering, yes, I love all of these homemade makeup recipes and I wear them daily!) There may be another way to make dye, but I kept it super-simple. I just put a small amount of beet root powder in a bowl and then added some water. I stirred it until the beet root powder was dissolved and let it set until we were ready to use it. I thought that this would produce the most intense color on the eggs, and I was surprised that it wasn't the winner in that respect.

Next up, I wanted to make green out of some fresh spinach. I pureed the spinach (maybe two cups?) in my blender and then placed it in a pot on the stove top. I added a couple cups of water, and brought it to a boil. Then, I put a lid on it and simmered it for 1 1/2 hours. (This is one that most likely should have simmered longer, but again, I had that time crunch -- children who were ready to color eggs!) In retrospect, too, I wished that I had strained it because this dye left green flecks of spinach on the egg shells, which didn't look as interesting as it might sound -- more like they were kind of messy. So, note to self: have cheese cloth on hand for next time. The good news, however, is that this was the clear winner for most intense dye of the three that I made.

Lastly, I attempted to make orange dye using fresh carrots. This is another one that likely needed to simmer longer. It produced the faintest dye of the ones I tried. Most of the color came from the flecks of carrot that were left on the egg shells. (So, perhaps this one needed to be strained, too?) I chopped 4 medium size carrots and pureed them in my blender along with some water. Then, I placed them in a pot with more water, and brought it to a boil. After that, I simmered the pureed mixture with a lid on top for 1 1/2 hours.

{Natural Dyes from Beet Root, Spinach, & Carrots}

To dye the eggs, I put some of each homemade dye into a bowl, added about a teaspoon of vinegar to each (possibly unnecessary?), and let the kids put the eggs in to soak. We tried letting them sit in the dyes for 5 minutes and for 10 minutes, without noticeable differences in color saturation. (I can't even identify which is which for you in the above photo, but one row is the 5 minute-colored eggs and the other is the 10-minute colored eggs.) Anyway, the takeaway here is that you may want to leave eggs in the dyes for much longer if you want more vibrant colors! Also, we tried this on both white eggs and brown eggs, and it pretty much goes without saying that this worked better on the white eggs.

Just looking at the dyes, I thought that we would have better luck getting vibrant eggs. The good news, however, is that these dyes are completely safe -- if not all that intensely pigmented. I knew exactly what went into them. And, none of them -- beet root, spinach, or carrots -- flavored the eggs in any way. (Admit it, you were worried about that, right?) So, even though they weren't as bright as my kids and I hoped for, it was still a win and worth trying out.


P.S. Don't forget to check out my review and giveaway sponsored by Path Publishing! The giveaway continues through tomorrow, April 28th, so you still have time to enter to win your own blank book of your choice.

Easter Eggs for the Birds

I found this idea in the the April 2014 issue of FamilyFun magazine (page 36) and it reminded me of the hanging birdseed treats we had made over the winter. The recipe includes the same ingredients, but in slightly different proportions. I had the idea to make these eggs into hanging treats, but the embroidery floss didn't stick in them very well because when we opened the plastic eggs to take the treats out, the embroidery floss came out as well. Not a big deal, though. We just found places to set them and make an Easter egg hunt for our feathered visitors. (I can't help but wonder if this would have worked with the recipe used for the hanging birdseed treats? We may have to try it some other time.)

{An Egg Hunt for the Birds}

Materials:

• 2 packets of unflavored gelatin mix (We used Kroger brand.)
• 1/2 cup hot water (I used boiling water.)
• 2 1/2 cups birdseed
• cooking spray
• 12 plastic Easter eggs

Directions:

1. Dissolve the gelatin in hot water.
2. Mix in the birdseed. (Kids can help measure, pour, and stir.)
3. Spray the insides of plastic Easter eggs well with cooking spray.
4. Spoon the birdseed mixture into the eggs and press down firmly, filling both sides of the eggs. (Kids can do this step.)
5. Snap the eggs shut and let them set overnight. (We placed ours on a cookie sheet and left it in the refrigerator like we did with the cookie cutter birdseed treats mentioned above, but this may not be necessary.)
6. In the morning, remove the birdseed eggs and place outside where you can watch the birds enjoy them. (Kids will love helping with this step!)

{Happy Easter!}

Don't forget to head over to my review and giveaway to win a free blank book from Path Publishing. (One book that you can win is the Kidisms journal, where you can record all the cute and quirky things that the kids have to say.) The giveaway goes through April 28, 2014, so you still have time to enter!

Recycled Easter Egg Maracas

I'm baaaaaack! We had an AMAZING time in Puerto Rico (without kids!), and I would love to share some of the cool stuff we saw and did, but I literally have no clue where to begin. So, for now, I am backtracking. Actually, this project relates in a way because maracas are a traditional musical instrument of Puerto Rico. So, go me, I'm not as off-track as I thought.

This fun, simple craft is one that the kids and I did in VBS, right before heading off on vacation. We had a global carnival theme and during the last day, we "visited" Mexico. My friend, Julie, came up with the craft projects for the week, and I helped out a bit. I don't know where she found this idea, but it was great, and ALL of the kids from preschool to 6th grade LOVED making maracas. (Actually, I think several of the teen helpers came back later to make their own maracas, too, so this pretty much appeals to kids of all ages.) Plus, it's a fun way to re-use those extra Easter eggs that I am sure you have laying around.

{This maraca is simple and fun to make.}

Materials:

• empty plastic Easter eggs (1 per maraca)
• plastic spoons (2 per maraca)
• decorative duct tape (or regular masking tape and markers to decorate)
• scissors (optional)
• macaroni noodles (or rice, dried beans, beads, etc.)

Directions:

1. Open a plastic Easter egg and put in about 5 macaroni noodles. If you don't have those, any dried pasta, rice, or beans will work. You could also use beads, button, brads or whatever small items you have on hand to make the noise. Close the egg after filling it. (Note: It doesn't matter what color egg you use, or even if the two halves match because you will be covering it up.)
2. Tear (or cut, if you prefer) off 3 pieces of tape. We used a variety of decorative duct tapes. Some kids chose to use plain masking tape, which they decorated with markers after assembling the maracas. Two pieces of tape will be longer, about 8 inches (you don't need to measure, just approximate) and the last one will be shorter, about 4 inches. (Note: If doing this with a large group, as we did, tear many strips in advance and place them on a wall where kids can easily reach them. We did this in sets of 3, which turned out to be unnecessary because they liked to mix and match their patterns.)
3. This next step is easier if you have a helper. Cradle the egg between two plastic spoons and then adhere the tape. (One person can hold it all together while the other person applies the tape. Just ask your child which job he wants and then you can do the other one!) We found that it was easiest to use the short piece to go over the tops of the spoons to sandwich the egg in between and hold it all together. Then, we used the longer pieces, one at a time, to go around the egg and cover the rest of it along with part of the spoons. It does not need to look perfect, but you can always add more tape if needed. (Note: If you don't have any plastic spoons on hand, you can just make egg-shaped shakers by filling them and applying the tape.)
4. If using masking tape instead of decorative duct tape, now is the time to draw designs with markers. Otherwise, you are done. Enjoy making music with your maracas!

Easter Egg Sun Catchers

I feel like I am behind on posting since Easter has come and gone, but really, it felt a bit early this year. Anyway, here is a project we did on Sunday. We've done plenty of these sun catchers over the past couple of years. It's so easy and relatively mess-free, that once you have made them you find occasions to make more. Plus, it helps if you already have a stock-pile of pre-cut tissue paper squares in an assortment of colors. I prepped a few paper eggs and Con-tact paper rectangles and then took the whole bunch along to Grandma and Grandpa's house so that all the kids could make them, if they chose.

{Pink Egg by Mia, Age 6 & Yellow Egg by Logan, Age 3}

Materials:

• colored tissue paper
• scissors
• pencil
• construction paper
• clear Con-tact paper 
• scrap paper (optional, for making egg template)
• paper trimmer (optional)
• clear tape (for hanging finished sun catchers)

Directions:

1. Cut colored tissue paper into small squares. I used approximately 1 inch squares, but you could make yours bigger or smaller depending on the age of the children. Tip: To make this process go faster, layer a couple of pieces of tissue paper together, cut into smaller rectangles, and then cut the rectangles into strips, re-layering as needed. Put as many strips together as you can comfortably cut before cutting smaller squares. Tip: I save all of the cut tissue paper from previous projects, and store it in zippered baggies according to color. Tip: You don't need to go out and buy nice, new tissue paper. We re-use all the crumpled pieces that come in gift bags.
2. Fold a piece of construction paper in half like a hamburger. 
3. Fold a piece of scrap paper in half, hamburger-style, draw one half of an egg shape, and cut it out. Make sure that your template will fit within the borders of your folded construction paper, with about an inch or more border all the way around. Tip: You could also find an egg template online if you prefer. Tip: If you are only making one egg sun catcher, you can save this step by simply folding your paper in half a second time, drawing your egg shape, and then cutting it out. You should end up with two corresponding egg shapes on either original half of the folded paper.The template is just handy if you know you will be making several sun catchers.
4. Lay your egg template onto the construction paper, trace it with a pencil, and then cut it out so that both sides of the folded paper have a corresponding egg shape removed from the center.
5. Cut two pieces of clear Con-tact paper (I used both a paper trimmer and scissors for this.) so that they are at least 1/2 to 1 inch larger than the construction paper all the way around. Tip: Do not remove backing from contact paper until you are ready to use it. Tip: If you have leftover pieces of Con-tact paper, save them for future projects. For example, I find that the long, somewhat narrow strip left after making several of these sun catchers is just the right size for "laminating" labels onto jars of homemade play dough, which we give as gifts. The smaller remnants are also good for hanging leaves in the fall.
6. Adhere one side of the paper to the clear Con-tact paper so that there is a border of at least 1/2 inch all around the paper. Tip: Slowly peel the Con-tact paper away from the backing as you smooth the construction paper down onto the contact paper. This way you don't end up with "bubbles."
7. Have your child stick tissue paper squares onto the Con-tact paper egg shape until it is filled. Tip: You can use multiple different colors or shades of the same color (pink, purple, etc.) of tissue paper to give the sun catcher a more complex design. It looks especially nice where the two colors have overlapped in places.
8. Layer the other half of construction paper on top of the first, making sure that the egg shapes line up. Tip: If you wish for the project to have a name and date, add this to the back before sealing up the sun catcher.
9. Add the second piece of Con-tact paper over the top, smoothing it down as you go. Trim away excess if desired, but don't trim too much or the sun catcher will not stay together. 1/4 inch is the minimum border I would recommend.
10. You can display your sun catcher in a window using clear tape. Another option is to use a hole punch to make two holes near the top, thread some ribbon or yarn through the holes, tie it off, and then hang your sun catcher.

An Eggstra Special Lunch

About a year ago, I saw this idea on Pinterest for an "Easter egg lunch hunt." I didn't set it up as an actual egg hunt, but I did serve the kids their lunch in leftover Easter eggs today. This was a HUGE hit! Both Mia and Logan were really surprised and excited to see what was inside each egg, even though there wasn't a single jelly bean or piece of chocolate anywhere in sight. Each child got an egg crate with plastic eggs containing:

1. baby carrots
2. cucumber slices
3. cherry tomatoes
4. green grapes
5. blueberries
6. strawberries
7. blackberries
8. Cheez-It crackers
9. peanuts
10. Craisins
11. string cheese (cut into quarters and each kid got 2 sections)
12. cooked cubed chicken

{Whoa! Chicken! Yay!}

My kids had different strategies for dealing with their "eggstra special lunch." Mia ate hers somewhat methodically, opening one egg at a time, for the most part. Logan opened all of his eggs, dumped the contents onto the table, and then ate a mishmash of foods together. In the end, it was all the same. Everybody was happy, including this mama. I had found a clever way to get them both to eat a nice variety of foods. The portions were small enough to keep them interested, which meant that they actually ate almost everything I served them, and I am sure most moms will agree that can be a huge challenge.

{Lunch is served.}

Normally, my kids are pretty good eaters, but it was still rewarding to hear their exclamations of joy over all the different healthy choices that they were given. It's not often I hear such joyous cheers for "Blackberries!" and "Cherry tomatoes!" In particular, I was pleasantly surprised by how well the chicken was received. In a typical situation, they would be indignant if I tried to serve them plain, cold chicken, but finding it inside of eggs was exciting enough to elicit reactions like "Whoa! Chicken. Yay!" I was just trying to figure out what kind of protein I could get in there, and once I saw the cut-up chicken in the refrigerator, I figured it was worth a shot. Clearly, serving lunch in Easter eggs was a winner of an idea. I'm not saying I would always resort to gimmicks to get them to eat well. However, switching things up was fun and unexpected for them. It may be a good idea to occasionally serve little portions of lots of different foods in muffin tins or ice cube trays, just to make food more fun.

3-Layered Jell-o Eggs

{My Orange, Lime, and Cherry Jell-o Eggs}

According to my sister-in-law, Jill, "Jell-o tastes better in egg form." I'm taking this as a compliment as I was up late last night because I had this nutty idea to make three layers of Jell-o in my egg molds. Usually I make just one solid flavor, or two mixed together, as we often do when we make Jigglers. I couldn't really find satisfactory directions for how to do layered Jigglers online except for ones that included layers with whipped cream or yogurt like this one, which looks amazing, but was not what I had in mind. So, here is how I did it (and I am mainly writing this particular post for my own reference, but if it helps someone else out, then that is great, too). My experiment worked out, happily. I was only slightly disappointed because I had hoped the colors would be more vibrant. Perhaps next time, I will try this with different flavors or in a different order to see if what the results will be.

Ingredients:

• 2 - 3 oz. package cherry gelatin (one was Jell-o brand the other was Kroger)
• 2 - 0.3 oz. packages sugar free lime gelatin
• 2 - 0.3 oz. packages sugar free orange gelatin
• boiling water
• ice cubes
• cooking spray

Materials:

• 2 - Jell-o Jiggler egg molds (each makes 6 eggs)
• mixing bowl
• spoon
• tablespoon
• 1 cup measuring cup
• funnel
• cake pan

Directions:

1. Spray insides of egg molds with cooking spray. Snap molds together and set them in a cake pan.
2. Dissolve 2 packages cherry gelatin in 1 1/4 cup boiling water. Stir completely, about 3 minutes. Then, using a tablespoon and a funnel, pour two tablespoons gelatin into each egg cup. Pour any remaining gelatin into a separate container. 
3. Just slide the entire cake pan into the refrigerator to chill. I did this for about 45 minutes, which was probably 15-20 minutes longer than necessary, but since I forgot to do the quick-set directions, I didn't want to take any chances.
4. Dissolve 2 packages sugar free lime gelatin in 1 cup boiling water and a few ice cubes (I used about 4). 
5. Remove cake pan containing egg molds from refrigerator. Add 2 tablespoons lime gelatin to each egg cup using a funnel.
6. Return to refrigerator and chill for at least 20-30 minutes.
7. For the top layer, dissolve 2 packages of sugar free orange gelatin in 1 cup boiling water and a few ice cubes.
8. Again, using the funnel and tablespoon, pour gelatin into egg molds to top them off. Pour remaining gelatin into the extra container. I found that this last layer was not quite 2 tablespoons per egg.
9. Return molds to the refrigerator and allow to completely set up, about 3-4 hours. Enjoy!

Paper Strip Easter Egg Craft

Here's another Pinterest-inspired craft project. You're not surprised by that, I'm sure. This one is about as simple as they come since I made some small changes to it. Although I loved how beautiful the original eggs were (You could hang them in your home and they would feel like "real" artwork.), I felt that matting them with a second piece of cardstock was more work than we really needed to do. Additionally, she was trimming all of her paper to the same width, 1/2", and after getting out my paper trimmer, I realized this was unnecessary. I already had plenty of extra paper scraps saved up from literally years worth of paper crafting projects. So, I just pulled them out and let the kids go to town with whatever they liked: solid colored cardstock, printed scrapbooking papers, glitter paper, whatever.

I like that the final results are so unplanned looking and Logan's, in particular, is super cool. It looks nothing like I imagined, but his layering technique produced this crazy-quilt look, which is fun and unique. Mia's egg is simple and clean, more like what I was thinking when I offered up the materials, but that is what is great about crafting with kids; they each can put their own spin on the project and that makes it all the better. And this is a project that will work with all ages, from toddlers on up, so get to work using up your paper scraps.

{Easter Eggs by Logan, Age 3, and Mia, Age 6}

Materials:

• Easter egg template
• printer
• white cardstock
• colored paper strips
• glue stick or glue
• scissors

Directions:

1. Print off Easter Egg template, or draw your own, if you prefer. I used white cardstock for this since it is sturdier than regular paper. This template was perfect because it was about as large as it could be so it didn't waste much of the 8 1/2" by 11" cardstock. (Of course, I saved the scraps out of habit.) Tip: You could use any color cardstock. It doesn't really matter since it will get covered up, so use what you have available.
2. Have kids glue strips of paper to eggs. Don't worry if they go outside of the lines. This is fine. Allow glue to dry.
3. Cut out egg shapes following the outline from the template. Tip: It helps to turn them so that your are looking at the reverse side and cut while holding them up in the light.
4. Display your Easter eggs. See, wasn't that simple?

Easter Egg Centerpiece

Here is a craft that I have seen several versions of on Pinterest and I have been wanting to try it for ages. Mia and I finally gave it a go, and not surprisingly, it isn't the most kid-friendly of projects. I decided to use embroidery floss since I don't have much yarn on hand and I am surprised at how expensive it seems (at least for what I would use it for; knitters and crocheters might disagree, but I have no clue). Anyway, I had plenty of embroidery floss since I did a fair bit of cross-stitching in my B.C. era days (Before Children). I had also seen that this blogger used embroidery floss instead of yarn, so that seemed promising. I was worried about using glue, though, having remembered a flop of a project we tried two years ago for Valentine's Day that involved yarn and glue and thought we might want to try something else for our eggs. I found this blogger who used Mod Podge, which is awesome stuff, so I figured it was sure to work. So, that is how I decided on embroidery floss and Mod Podge for our Easter egg craft.

I originally thought I would be hanging these either individually or stringing them together as a garland, but when they were done I wasn't sure if they would hold up, so I decided to put them in a green footed glass bowl and use them as a centerpiece instead. I think they look great even if we did end up with one casualty in the process. It either did not have enough embroidery floss wrapped around it to hold it together, or else it was just not tightly wrapped and it sort of fell apart in a way that resembled a disintegrating birds nest. I just tossed that one out and was satisfied that the rest turned out okay. It was too bad, though, because the peach color would have made a nice contrast since we ended up with two blues (one is more of a periwinkle) and two pinks. However, this made the final count seven eggs, and odd numbers do always seem to make a better balance decorating-wise, so that was serendipitous in a way. I love the fresh, spring colors and the kooky, organic feel of the strings. I hope that they will store well because I want to display these for many years, although I guess we can always make more. They were not difficult and the materials are inexpensive. Here is how we made our string egg centerpiece.

{I LOVE how this turned out!}

Materials:

• water balloons
• embroidery floss
• bowl
• spoon
• 1/4 cup Mod Podge
• 1/2 cup water
• newspaper (to protect work surface)
• scissors
• cups/mugs for holding eggs while drying
• pin (for popping balloons)

Directions:

1. Protect your work surface with newspaper. (Or, if you have one, a vinyl tablecloth would have worked even better for this.)
2. In a bowl, mix up the Mod Podge and water. I used a ratio of 2 parts water to 1 part Mod Podge.
3. Blow up your water (or any type) balloons. Mine came in a package of 100 from Dollar Tree and were easily blown up by mouth. I found that they resembled eggs when they were inflated to approximately 4-5 inches long.
4. Cut several lengths of embroidery floss and set aside. Mine were about 18 inches, but no longer than 24 inches because that just got tricky to keep from getting tangled. 
5. Dip the embroidery floss into the Mod Podge mixture and wrap around the balloon. Repeat until it is covered as desired (or you are out of that particular color of embroidery floss; this was always my stopping point). Tip: If you are lucky, you will have a little helper dipping these for you and then laying them aside until you are ready to use them. (We found that this project required fine motor skills that were a bit beyond Mia's 6-year-old grasp, and she is a very experience crafter, so that should give you an idea of the age that this is appropriate for. Fortunately, we found that she could help me in this fashion, and still be involved in the process.)
6. Set the covered balloons into cups or mugs to allow them to dry completely. One post I read said this would take 24 hours. We let them dry overnight and they seemed fine in the morning (about 12 or 13 hours later), so we went ahead with the next step.
7. Once dry, pop your balloons with a pin and carefully pull out the broken balloon bits. Tip: You might want to do this over the trash can since the balloons will be covered with the dried out Mod Podge mixture and it flaked off all over the table.
8. Display your eggs. You can hang these with more embroidery floss or fishing line. You could also string several together and hang them as a garland. You can place them in a bowl or vase for a centerpiece, as I ended up doing. There are many possible ideas for Easter decorations with these eggs.

   

   {Here are the eggs while they are drying.}

Easter Eggs Everywhere

Considering that nobody really ate our colored eggs this year, it seems like we are overly obsessed with Easter eggs. (Actually, I take that back. Earlier, I caught the dog standing in our outdoor trash can, which had tipped over from the wind. And she was eating -- you guessed it -- all of those forgotten hard boiled eggs that I had just pitched. Wanna bet I will not be having a fun evening when those catch up with her?) Hard boiled eggs are fun to decorate, but maybe we should stick to other goodies in the future.

For example, we made our Jell-o eggs, as we always do. They were a hit as usual. You pretty much can't go wrong with kids and finger Jell-o.

{Mmmmm..... raspberry!}

{He likes almost anything he can eat with his hands.}

For something new this year, we tried the Rice Krispie treat eggs, which weren't quite as successful. They're supposed to have M & M's inside. I was lucky just to get Rice Krispie treats that somewhat resembled eggs, and there was no way the kids could really help. It was a sticky mess, one that I will not be repeating any time soon. Word of warning: these things always sound easier than they actually are. The good news is that they taste fine, unless, of course, you ask Logan his opinion. Even though he LOVES Rice Krispies and marshmallows, he apparently does not like them together. Weird.

Okay, you can't eat it, but I LOVE this paint chip Easter egg garland that I made, so I will likely be making one or two more of them for around the house. It's an ingenious way to use up something I had been saving until I had a project idea, and so, so very adorable. This is easy, but a bit time-consuming, and definitely an adult-only project.

As for the actual eggs, we tried some different techniques, some more successful than others... For some reason, I thought that if we stamped on circles of glue, with foam paintbrushes, we could add glitter and have nice glittery circles on our eggs. In actuality, they dribbled and weren't really circles, but all that glitters makes Mia happy so no harm done. Next, we added the glitter that was left on the plate, to some purple poster paint and applied that. (I don't suggest doing this even though it was easy, and washable. I thought they were dry, but somehow they got moist again in the refrigerator, so when I went to peel some to eat, paint got smeared all over the place.)

{Purple + glitter = one happy little girl}

Here is what I think is a great idea, and I am pleased I thought of it: decorate eggs with Bingo markers. So simple, even the littlest egg decorators can do it, and it's fairly mess-free.

{Need something to rest your eggs on while they dry? Cut up toilet paper tubes work perfectly and they are very cheap!}

I wish our tie-dyed eggs came out a little clearer, but I do like this technique that we have tried in the past, and brought back again this year. I have done it two ways: dye and then wrap with rubber bands and dye again or wrap first, dye, let dry, and dye a second time. I'm not sure if I have a preference or not.

{There are only so many ways you can get a rubber band to stay on an egg.}

{Our finished tie-dyed eggs}

{My "egg-cited" little helpers}

After tie-dying some eggs, we had dye left over, so we made some coffee filter carnations. They look nice as a centerpiece.

The last of the dye went toward a science experiment. We used it to dye some real carnations. Mia loved this even though they aren't as brightly colored as our paper bouquet.

As much as I am thinking we should avoid decorating hard boiled eggs next year, I am sure we will be doing it. And more likely than not, we'll be trying out more new ideas. I can't seem to not try new craft ideas when they come along. Plus, Mia will expect it. She told me recently, "Mom, I wish you were the Easter Bunny." When I asked why, she replied, "Because you make the best Easter eggs in the whole world!" How can I not at least attempt to live up to her expectations?

Paper Plate Easter Egg Wreath

Mia did this one almost entirely on her own. I think you could adapt it and use it for toddlers on up. You can make the eggs as fancy or as plain as you want, but either way I think it is fairly simple to make this craft.

{Easter Egg Wreath by Mia, Age 4}

Materials:

• paper plate
• scissors
• tape
• pencil
• markers, crayons, or paint
• construction or scrapbooking paper
• stapler or glue
• yarn or ribbon for hanging
• egg shaped cookie cutter (optional)
• decorative materials: beads, foam, pom poms, rickrack, etc. (optional)

Directions:

1. Using scissors, cut out inner circle of a paper plate.
2. Decorate outer ring with markers. (You could also use paint or crayons if you prefer.)
3. Using cookie cutters, trace and cut out several egg shapes from construction paper. (If you don't have an egg shaped cookie cutter, you can draw one freehand, cut it out and use it as a template or find a picture you like and trace it.)
4. Decorate construction paper eggs if desired. (You can also you patterned scrapbooking paper.)
5. Arrange eggs on the paper plate ring. When you are happy with the arrangement, glue or staple them.
6. Cut a length of yarn or ribbon and adhere to the back of the plate with tape. 
7. Make sure all glue is dry before hanging your wreath.

Easy Easter Egg Craft

Materials:

{Easter Egg by Logan, Age 19 Months}

• construction paper
• pencil
• scissors
• Bingo markers
• newspaper (to protect work surface)

Directions:

1. Fold a piece of construction paper in half like a hot dog.
2. Use a pencil to draw 1/2 of an egg shape (basically an oval that is narrower on one end).
3. Cut out the egg shape and unfold it.
4. Decorate your Easter egg by dotting it with Bingo markers.
5. Allow the egg to dry and then display your craft.